This invention relates generally to the field of hospital room accessories and more specifically to a clean environment housing for mixing injectable drugs.
In caring for patients with various illnesses, it is sometimes necessary to inject and intravenous drip (IV) into a patient to supply a continuous amount of a particular medication or medications. Traditionally, a flexible bag, known as an IV bag containing the liquid medication is suspended on an IV pole near the patient and a flexible tube extends from the IV bag to an injectable needle that is inserted through the skin of the patient's arm or other body part. For many procedures, the contents of the IV bag are prepared in a pharmacy and then transported to the end use location such as a hospital room. In these cases, the pharmacist injects the contents of the IV bag in a germ free clean environment that is created by the use of a laminar flow hood which directs fan propelled filtered clean air into the area under the hood thereby eliminating the possibility of air borne contaminants to be present during the process of injecting the medication into the IV bag. Horizontal laminar flow hoods such as the BZ series manufactured by Germfree Inc of Ormond Beach Fla. are generally made of stainless steel and cost thousands of dollars to purchase.
Although these types of hoods are well suited to a pharmacy environment where there is sufficient space and purchasing power to allow ownership of such a hood, they are not financially or spatially suited to a hospital emergency room environment where an IV bag must be prepared quickly and within a relatively small space that has not been specifically designed for such activity. Typically, a space on a work surface is marked off by tape and designated as the IV bag injection zone. The zone is supposed to be cleaned regularly and items that are commonly used during the injection procedure should be within easy reach. However, due to the busy and sometimes chaotic nature of emergency room environments, the IV injection zone may not meet the above stated requirements.
Furthermore, the current pharmacy grade laminar flow hood systems to not include a spring clip for holding the injectable portion of the bag in place allowing the user to inject the medication with one hand and without the need to hold onto the flexible injectable portion with the other hand. Additionally, the current laminar hood flow systems to not include a magnetically attachable IV bag holder that can be placed anywhere on the horizontal surface of the IV bag injection zone allowing it to be placed perfectly for either a right handed or left handed person.